Hansi Flick Blames Tiredness, Not Doubts, After Barcelona’s Back-to-Back Defeats

• Real Madrid ended Barcelona’s nine-game winning run in LaLiga with a 2-1 Clásico win at Camp Nou, Kylian Mbappé scoring twice.
• Pedri said Barcelona were slow in the first half and “lost the ball stupidly a lot”.
• Hansi Flick refused to call two straight defeats a “reality check”, saying his players “missed the freshness”.

Pedri Blames Stupid Mistakes While Flick Blames Fatigue

Barcelona’s coach and one of his best-known midfielders left the Clásico with two different explanations. Pedri pointed at what his team did with the ball. Hansi Flick pointed at their legs.

Real Madrid won 2-1 at Spotify Camp Nou on Sunday, ending Barcelona’s perfect start to the LaLiga season at nine wins. Mbappé scored either side of an equaliser from Raphinha, and his second, in the 87th minute, was his 100th goal for Madrid. Barcelona stay top, two points clear of Atlético and three ahead of Madrid.

Pedri Points at a Slow First Half

“In general, we didn’t play well,” Pedri told DAZN. “We were not ourselves in the first half. There are a lot of things we could have done better.”

He said Barcelona got back level in the second half but did not defend the second goal well, from a transition they knew Madrid could produce. “But, above all, in the first half we were really slow, we lost the ball stupidly a lot and you pay for those mistakes.”

The first goal fitted that description. Mbappé turned home from close range after a poor clearance from Gerard Martín. Raphinha levelled after the break with his 15th goal of the campaign. With Barcelona pushing for a winner late on, they left space behind, and Eduardo Camavinga broke through to set up Mbappé for the second.

Flick Says Tiredness Explains Two Defeats

The result completed a miserable week. After 11 consecutive wins in all competitions, Barcelona lost 4-2 at Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last Tuesday and have now lost two in a row. Flick refused to label the defeats a “reality check” and pointed to tiredness instead.

“It’s two defeats so of course we are not happy; we are disappointed,” he said in the post-game news conference. “The first half was not good. The second half, after the equaliser, was better. I think also we controlled the game. We missed a little bit of luck. But they played well, they didn’t give us much space.”

“Also, you could see today we missed the freshness. It’s about this. It’s the first defeat in LaLiga. We won nine in a row [in the league]. But it happens, defeats are a part of the game.”

Flick said the results against PSG and Madrid will “not create doubts” around his team. “No, no [doubts], that is clear,” he added. “Everyone knows the situation, that we don’t play very good. But in the big games, small things are important. They decide the games.”

A Thin Defence and a Short Turnaround

Flick leaned on the injury list. Andreas Christensen, Jules Koundé and Eric García are all out of his defence, and Xavi Espart was taken off in the first half of the Clásico. “Maybe the most important point is the injuries we have in defence, also Dani [Olmo]. We have to manage it. At the end, in the defence, we had not a lot of options.”

He also gave credit to the winners. “We played against an opponent that has huge quality. They were better against the ball than in the Clásico in previous years.”

Flick closed on the next task. “Like I said, you saw today we missed the freshness. After these weeks, it was not easy for my players. We have to now focus again and recover well.” Barcelona return to action next Saturday at home to Alavés, with Madrid, under José Mourinho, three points behind them.